38 years of amazing work in the North East are marked

Friends, supporters and members, past and present, gathered at St Joseph’s in Gateshead as Church Action on Poverty North East (CAPNE) celebrated 38 years of work challenging poverty and campaigning for social justice.

The group’s “Passing On The Torch” event was the final one it will organise. It celebrated its achievements while looking ahead to how churches and others can continue the work.

CAPNE was established in 1988, bringing together two earlier local groups formed in Newcastle and North Shields in the early 1980s, soon after the national Church Action on Poverty organisation was founded.

Speaking at the gathering, CAPNE chair Bernadette Askins said:

“Over the years, CAPNE has sought to challenge poverty and the structures that allow poverty to exist, and we have encouraged churches and others to take action. We have always tried to ensure that people with direct experience of poverty are heard and taken seriously. And we have been part of a much wider movement for change, working with churches and others who believe poverty is neither inevitable nor acceptable.”

She acknowledged that the decision to bring the group’s work to a close had not been easy, but said it was now time to pass the torch to others.

We have always tried to ensure that people with direct experience of poverty are heard and taken seriously. And we have been part of a much wider movement for change

Bernadette Askins

Chair, Church Action on Poverty North East

Other speakers included:

Long-standing group members Pat Devlin, David Peel, Margaret Reynolds.
Alan Thornton, who worked with CAPNE on the 1999 pilgrimage against poverty, and went on to work for the national staff team.
Helen Goodman, chair of Church Action on Poverty nationally, who thanked the group for their work over the years.
Bishop Rob Wickham, chief executive of the Church Urban Fund, spoke about ongoing grounds for hope, and how churches could continue to make a difference.

Margaret recalled how a chance encounter in the early 1980s had led to her involvement with the organisation. She was delivering leaflets and Persil samples in the Meadow Well estate in North Shields, when she popped into the Cedarwood Centre and got chatting to people who knew about the launch of Church Action on Poverty nationally, and she then became deeply involved in much of its work in the region.

She said: “I liked what they were doing, and what I could offer was that I was from a community where 90%+ were suffering from poverty and were being wrongly blamed for it.”

Pat recalled the poverty hearings of the 1990s, the Images For Change project on urban regeneration in the early 2000s, and other keynote projects and moments.

Writing online afterwards, Rob wrote: “Last night was something else. Sitting in a church hall in Gateshead for a celebration of 40 years of Church Action on Poverty North East, I sat amongst giants. A cry to be shaped by the lived experience of poverty and the church’s promise to challenge unjust structures with action – for this is mission – was heard, unwavering.”

He said it was an honour to hear again the wisdom of David Peel and others, from whom he learned much in the early 1990s when he volunteered at the Cedarwood Centre, and added: “Here, in this church hall, were the legends, the heroes, the greats and the pioneers. I, like many, stand on the shoulders of giants, and today, I say thank you.”

When the group was set up in 1988, it initially met in Newcastle at St Dominic’s with Fr Colin Carr and later at St Lawrence’s with Fr Bill Rooke. More recently, the group has held its events at St Joseph’s Gateshead supported by the Joe’s Place team.

CAPNE have done brilliant community and campaigning work over the years.

Highlights have included:

Campaigning against the Poll Tax in the 1980s, and holding prominent prayer vigils outside court hearings for non-payment.
Hosting poverty hearings in the 1990s
Playing a key role in the UK-wide pilgrimage against poverty in 1999
The Debt on Our Doorstep campaign in the 2000s
Campaigning for a Living Wage in the early to mid 2000s
The Images For Change project, pushing for local people to be listened to during post-industrial regeneration projects in towns.
Playing an active role in the End Hunger UK campaign
Regional campaigns on barriers to employment, and calling for more support for prison leavers
Supporting Poverty Truth Commissions
Helping ensure North East voices were heard by the UN Rapporteur on Poverty

Everyone at Church Action on Poverty wants to express our great admiration and gratitude for all the work the North East group has done over four decades. It has achieved incredible things. It has ensured that people who are all too often ignored have been heard clearly and paid attention to, and the many actions they have undertaken have made a positive difference to countless people’s lives, and inspired so many other activists.